Son signs with MLS’ Los Angeles FC
AP, Los Angeles :
Son Heung-min agreed to a contract with Los Angeles FC on Tuesday, finalizing his move to Major League Soccer (MLS) after a decade at Tottenham Hotspur.
The 33-year-old South Korean superstar forward is joining LAFC three days after he formally announced his decision to leave Tottenham.
Son attended LAFC’s Leagues Cup match against Tigres at BMO Stadium on Tuesday night, watching from a luxury suite. LAFC will formally introduce Son at a news conference Wednesday, but the club showed the forward on the stadium video board late in the first half as he waved to roaring fans thrilled by their team’s landmark acquisition.
LAFC, a deep-pocketed club with significant team success in its first eight seasons of existence, reportedly paid a transfer fee of more than $20 million, which could end up being the most ever for an MLS move.
Son was a beloved presence at Spurs, scoring 173 goals in 454 competitive appearances for the North London club while rising to global prominence with his combination of speed, playmaking skill and finishing acumen.
The captain was given a memorable farewell last week in Seoul during Tottenham’s exhibition match against Newcastle, getting a guard of honor from both teams and tearfully exiting in the second half while nearly 65,000 fans roared.
But South Korea’s most popular athlete – and almost certainly the greatest Asian soccer player in history – has chosen an auspicious stage for the next chapter of his groundbreaking career.
Los Angeles has the world’s largest ethnic Korean population outside Korea, with the city’s vibrant Koreatown district sitting just a couple of miles from LAFC’s BMO Stadium.
LAFC is undoubtedly hoping to market Son as a soccer counterpart to the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, albeit on a smaller scale.
Ohtani, the three-time MLB MVP from Japan who is on a trajectory to become the greatest Asian player in baseball history, draws fans from across the Pacific Rim to Dodger Stadium while attracting millions in sponsorships and partnerships for the Dodgers.
Son’s move to California also puts him in position to make an impact on and off the field at the World Cup, which will be held across North America in 2026. Son, the captain of his national team, already has said he will play in his fourth World Cup.
After leading Tottenham to its first European trophy in decades by winning the Europa League in May in a fitting cap to his English career, Son will go straight into the MLS Cup race when suits up for his new club.
LAFC currently sits sixth in the Western Conference at 10-6-6, but with multiple games in hand on every team in front of it because of its participation in the Club World Cup.